


This Universe of yours

by Alexis_universe



Series: Orphan Connie AU [4]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Amethyst adopts her, Canon Rewrite, Connie is an orphan, F/F, F/M, Occasional angst, Orphan AU, PTSD, Steven and Connie are roommates, canon compliance, time skip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2018-10-27 14:08:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10810575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexis_universe/pseuds/Alexis_universe
Summary: Connie had spent five years living with Steven Universe and his weird family made of magical ladies from space...And yet, weirder things are about to happen...This work will grasp all events that happened in the first half of season one in Steven Universe.





	1. A gem's glow: Part one

It was a nice spring morning in Beach city, Delmarva. The birds were singing like they used to, the ocean breeze was carried inland by gentle winds and the weather was only a bit hot enough to go and get some ice cream.

It was also the time when Cherry trees began to blossom, and their pink flowers scattered all around the place with grace and elegance. An elegant display that Connie had been seeing for the last five years.

Like she did every month since the Ocean City incident, Connie visited her mother's grave accompanied by Steven or the gems on odd occasions.

This time, she was with Steven, they had an instrument with them and were playing them to the grave next to the cherry tree.

"And that's the song we Wrote the other day." Connie said when they finished playing. "Steven wants us to perform it this year at the Beach-a-palooza, but I'm still not sure if it can overthrow last year's winner."

"Come on, Connie!" Steven interrupted her. "Sure, the Hawaiian dance Kiki and Jenny did was extremely over the top with all those fire batons and stuff. But I'm sure that if we can get the Gems to perform with us we'll win!"

"We should probably ask them first though." The girl said. "And don't forget that the contest is in a couple of months. We don't know if they'll have any important mission that day."

"They probably won't." He said. "They've been at the temple a lot more these days."

Connie acknowledged that with a small nod before finishing her talk with her mother.

"Well, that's all we've done last month." She said. "It's always nice to be around you, but we have to go now. Steven promised to buy some ice cream for the two."

"Good bye, Mrs. Maheswaran!" He said to the tombstone with his ever present smile. "I'll promise to bring you something next time I come!"

"See you, mom." She said while leaving the tombstone with a smile. 

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The big donut is one of the few places in Beach city where one can go and buy donuts. Most people stopped to come here after an incident with a frying machine ended the life of one of the previous management's staff members. However, if you need some hot coffee to slap you in the face after a light-sleep night, a questionable hunger for a sausage with a chocolate donut, or some especial ice cream sandwich to share with a friend, then the Big donut is probably the perfect shop for you.

" **NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!** "

Unless you were Steven.

"What is it, Steven?" A blonde lady from behind the shop's counter asked the boy, while the other girl just looked worriedly at her friend.

"The Cookie-cats, Sadie!" Steven said dramatically. "There aren't any in here!"

Upon hearing his words, Connie's expression changed from worry to fear.

The lady looked at the special fridge that showcased the brand of ice cream before turning towards Steven.

"Oh, right... We ran out of stock..." The cashier said.

"But you'll receive more, don't you?" Connie asked, hoping that the ice cream she shared with Steven would be available again. However, she received a heavy sigh from Sadie as an answer.

"I'm sorry guys...." She said. "But the company that makes the Cookie-cat broke."

While Steven didn't knew what she was talking about, Connie did, and she felt that a part of her soul had died that day.

"What does that mean?" Steven asked, trying to understand the so horrible meaning behind those words.

"It means that the ones who made Cookie-cats won't make them again, Steven..." She said. "Never again...."

His face twisted in horror as Connie translated the sentence.

"B-But that's impossible..." He said. "The Cookie-cats are the best ice cream sandwiches in the world..."

"They couldn't compete against the Lion lickers." An obnoxious, nasal voice said from inside the shop. "Those things are selling like hot cakes."

"The Lion Lickers!?" Steven said, his honor somehow insulted. "That's the Grossest thing we've ever got to taste!"

"Yeah!" Connie agreed. "They doesn't even resemble a lion at all!"

The kids spared a glance at the fridge where the low-quality ice cream was held. They saw the agonizing faces of the melting lions that wished for death.

"LARS!!" Sadie yelled at him. "Don't mess with the kids!"

He shrugged at her, placed some headphones over his head and played loud music before retreating to the back of the shop.

Meanwhile, both kids were lamenting the loss of the ice cream. Steven was pretty much the one who the news had hit harder, as he looked at the empty fridge with a broken expression. And while Connie knew how trivial was crying over molten ice cream (especially when you're a magical boy with fabulous dormant powers), she felt empathy for him as she patted his back to comfort him.

Seeing the scene in front of her, Sadie decided to do something before it escalated into something more.

"Um... Guys?" Sadie called upon them nervously. They turned their heads around so they could see the shopkeeper. "I know how much you liked them. So, I was Thinking to myself: 'Sadie, why don't you throw the fridge to the trash since no one will use it ever again?'" She glanced at Steven, who showed a mortified expression on his face, Just like she had expected. "But seeing how much it matters to you, I'll give it to you."

"Really!?" The excited boy said Receiving a nod in response from a smiling Sadie.

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"Are you sure that you don't need any help?" Connie asked Steven, who was walking to the temple with the mini-fridge on his back.

"It's no that heavy, Connie." He said. "You held it while I unplugged it, remember?."

"I know, I just wanted to help." She said.

Steven gave her a smile as they got in front of the house's staircase.

They climbed into the porch and opened up the door only to find the Gems fighting with dog-sized bug monsters.

"Hey guys!" Steven said, Unfazed by the creatures that littered his living room.

"What are these things?" The girl said.

"Centipeetle Larvae." Garnet said before bisecting a bug with her gauntlets, purple blood came out of the insect before its body disappeared with a poof a second later. Its splattered blood slowly decaying into smoke like its owner.

"We found them trying to get into the warp pad." Pearl said as she skewered a green creature with her spear. "And since these aren't autonomous, that means that the mother could be nearby."

"Maybe you'll want to stay outside until we get rid of 'em, dudes." Amethyst said as she launched her whip at various bugs that climbed up the ceiling.

"Nah, I don't mind them." The boy said. "Theyre actually kind of cute, just look at them." He pointed at a small creature in front of them, which closed its maw momentarily before spitting up a green liquid towards Connie. She dodged the liquid's trajectory with ease. When it fell on the railing of the porch, she heard the wood make a sizzling sound as it melt down.

The creature was about to shoot again when Amethyst wrapped it up in one of her whips and then threw it against another one, killing them both.

"Thanks Amethyst." Connie said.

"You're welcome, kid." She said before attacking another one next to Garnet.

"What's that you have there, Steven?" Pearl asked as she gracefully kicked off a creature to a wall.

"Oh, this?" He said. "It's a mini-fridge for Ice cream."

"The company that made it broke and Sadie gave it to us." Connie explained further.

"Why?" The thin gem asked.

"I dunno." Connie said shrugging. "Probably because of bad inversions or something like that."

"I meant why she gave you the fridge!" Pearl said while cutting down a monster with her spear.

"Steven was about to cry, didn't he?" Amethyst guessed correctly, making Steven blush a bit.

They would've keep talking about the theme for while longer if it weren't for a centipeetle that opened up the kitchen's fridge. Steven feared that his food would turn into a toxic mess of green acid and pieces of food, so he ran towards the beast, took it by one of it's black segments and lifted it up from the ground.

"Steven!" Pearl said. "Stay away from that thing!"   
"Okay, Pearl." The boy said, handing over the creature to his guardian before returning to close the Fridge's freezer door.

He did froze in place as he saw the contents of the freezer, that was full to the brim with Plastic bags containing lots of the Cat-shaped Ice cream that Steven wanted earlier.

"C-Cookie-cats!?" He said shocked.

"What?!" Connie said, getting next to him so she could see the ice cream.

The pair looked at each other before looking at a smiling Amethyst behind them.

"We knew that those jerks were going down." She said before hopping on the Kitchen's bar. "So, I got this awesome idea to Steal some Ice cream from the factory!"

"WE got the idea." Garnet clarified. 

"I returned and paid for them." Pearl said, Struggling to keep the last centipeetle still, getting ahold of its head.

"You really did that, for us?" Steven asked them.

"Of course!" Pearl broke the creature's neck, killing it with a smile. "All that matters to us is seeing both of you happy."

"Thanks, guys." He said, grabbing a pair of the ice cream for he and Connie.

"Thanks." Connie said as she took the cat-shaped treat from his hand.

"On the count of Three!" Steven said, receiving a nod from Connie.

"One.... Two... and THREE!" When the countdown finished, they opened the packages at the same time.

"Itadakimasu!" Connie said like the people in the anime she saw with Steven the other day before digging her teeth into the cookie in tandem with him.

Steven noticed how cute she was being while chewing on her treat. He felt his cheeks redden a bit as a surge of protectiveness rose from the depths of his being. The gemstone on his navel had started to glow with a pink light.

"Guys! It's happening again!" Steven said alarmed.

"Come on, dude!" Amethyst cheered for him. "Maybe you can do something this time!"

Steven remembered the lessons he took with the Gems a while back when his gem first reacted: From the petal talk, to the syncing with the Universe or something like that thing and the just pull something out motion, and tried to do all of them at once.

Not surprisingly, his gem didn't reacted to any of them, and its light grew dimmer before dying out.

"Aww...." Steven said. "It happened again...."

"Don't worry, Steven." Pearl said. "We're sure that you'll get your weapon one day. Right, Garnet?"

The largest gem didn't stirred as she chose her words. "Yes."

"At least It was a nice light show." Amethyst said befire being retorted by Pearl.

"AMETHYST!"

"It's a joke, Pearl." She said. "You need to chill out a bit, dude."

"Are you okay, Steven?" Connie asked him.

He pressed his hand gently over his gemstone.

"Yeah... I think so." He said reassuringly to her.


	2. A Gem's glow: Part two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and Connie have a talk involving ice cream and magical destinies.

Later, that evening. Steven was doing the dishes while Connie watched TV on his loft, once again alone by themselves as the gems had gone out to search for the Centipeetle's mother.

There was an ambiance of calm and stillness in the Beach House, interrupted only by the crash of the waves and the occasional cries of the seagulls on the beach outside.

However, there was an air of uneasiness around Steven, and Connie could easily feel it (five years living with the other made them especially perceptive to each other's mood).

So, She raised her laying form off the bed, and sat on its edge before adressing Steven.

"Is Something bothering you, Steven?" The girl asked her friend. "You don't look as cheerful as you always do when you do the dishes..."

He turned off the faucet and dried his hands with a piece of cloth before turning towards his friend.

"It's nothing... Maybe the death of Cookie Cat is still affecting me." He said glumly while approaching the cookie cat freezer he had installed on the kitchen's bar earlier that morning. He took two of the ice cream before looking back at Connie. "Want some?" 

"Steven...." She said. "We've known each other for five years... I know there's something upsetting you, and I need to know what it is so I can lend you a hand."

Steven looked up at his friend before letting out a defeated sigh.

"You promise you won't tell the gems?" He asked.

"I promise." The girl said, motioning her right hand over her heart and her left hand on the air.

Steven took a deep breath before finally sharing his troubled thoughts with her.

"I... I can't summon my weapon, Connie."

An awkward silence fell on the living room, as Connie expected him to elaborate his thoughts.

However, as the silence stretched more and more, Connie decided to press him further.

"That's it?" She asked, receiving a silent nod in response. "B-But Why? You've never worried about that in all the time we lived in here."

"I guess it worries me because I'm getting impatient." Steven declared before slumping on the couch with the pair of ice cream cats, while the girl slowly made her way downstairs. "Don't get me wrong, Connie. I love spending time with you, I really do..... But... I am a gem and I want to do the things the other gems do too..."

"Steven..." She said as she sat down next to him.

"They always say that Mom was a great person, and a lot of other amazing things..." Steven glanced at the portrait that hung above the doorway of the house, the one displaying his mother. "And I want to be like her, Someone who always puts the others before themselves, someone who always does the right thing, someone who is there to protect the ones they love..." He took a deep breath to hold back the tears that usually came together with the thoughts of the mother she never got to met. "I want to be a hero, Just like she was....

But without a weapon to protect the innocent.... I can't do much to do that."

Connie stared at him with a soft, emphatic gaze as she pressed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to ease his troubled thoughts.

"You don't have to be have magic powers to do that, Steven." Connie reassured her friend. "My mom was a hero too, you know?."

"She was?" He asked.

"Yup!" Connie said with a smile. ”She used to tell me Stories about her time doing her practices at the hospital." She said. "She always did what she needed to save the people who were in accidents or something like that, even before she became a Doctor."

"Woah..." Steven said in awe.

"Yeah... She was awesome..." She said with a bit of melancholy.

"So, you really believe that I can be a hero like your mom!?" The boy asked excitedly, his mood already lifted into its usual.

"Of course!" She said. "It's going to take a bit more of effort, but I believe that you'll become the greatest hero of them all!"

Steven blushed at the comment, "Thanks Connie." He said.

Connie let out a small giggle. "You're welcome."

They locked eyes for a couple of minutes until the ice cream in Steven's hands began to melt away.

"Awww...." He said upon the discovery of a pink stain on his pants. "Pearl and I just washed these....."

"Don't worry about that now." She said. "In the meantime, give me one of those kitties and then we'll clean up the ice cream."

"That.... Actually is a good Idea!" Steven gave one of the rapidly melting ice creams to his friend so she could help him getting rid of the evidence.

Eventually, The kids made a mess bigger than the one Steven initially created. And in the end they were laughing at each other's messy appearance.

Steven particularly was enjoying the momemt, as the warm laughter of the girl had triggered his gem's glow for the second time that day.

When they noted his pink light, an object had materialized in front of Steven: A pink, round metallic shield decorated with a rose whose thorns spiraled from its center into its blue edge.

"Steven...." Connie said in awe. "You did it... You summoned your weapon!"

"I-I can't believe it!" An ecstatic Steven said as he brushed his fingers on the cool metal-like surface of the shield. "I Really Did it! I have a weapon!"

"Wait, are shields really considered as weapons?" Connie wondered for a bit.

"Who cares, Connie?!" Steven said with a huge grin on his face. "I summoned it from my gem!" He launched his arms up in the air, shooting the pink disk in front of him with great force, breaking some floorboards, denting some walls and destroying his TV upstairs.

Upon seeing the destruction made by his weapon with Starry eyes, Steven couldn't help but wonder what had manifested it from his gem.

Then, the facts hit him in the face.

"The ice cream!" He said. "I summoned my weapon with ice cream!"

"What?" A confused Connie said. "Steven, Are you sure about that?"

"Of course!" He said sure of himself. "What other explanation can be?"

"Well, for starters, We've been eating the same ice cream for months, and this was the only time we saw the light coming from your gem" Connie rationalized. "Also...." A faint blush appeared on her face. "We weren't eating Ice cream when we went to see the movie the other day..."

"Oh..... Right...." He said defeated.

"Maybe there's something else that makes your gem light up." She said. "Any ideas on what thay can be?"

"No....." Steven said as he slumped down on his couch as Connie let out a sigh.

"Then i guess you're back at square one...." She said.

A brief silence passed between them until Steven dared to talk once more.

"A-Actually, I believe that there might be something that makes my gem glow...." He said, Trying to hide his blushing face from Connie. "Something really important...."

"Seriously?" She said intrigued. "What is it?"

Steven's Gaze looked around the room trying to evade Connie's curious eyes.

When he finally found enough bravery to talk again, when at the same time, a loud boom accompanied by a small tremor shook the Beach House, Startling the children inside it.

"What was that?!" Connie asked with fear tinged with a bit of fear.

"Must be the gems!" Steven guessed as he sprung from his seat. "They must have found the monster that made the bugs from this morning!"

"W-Where are you going!?" A worried Connie Asked.

"I'm gonna go out and help the gems!" He said as he took another pair of ice creams from the smiling cat-shaped fridge.

"I-I'll go with you too!" Connie said as she regained her composure. "I want to see you doing 'Magical Destiny' stuff!"

"Great!" He said smiling. "Just be sure to stay out of any dangers."

"I will, Steven. I promise." The girl said before Steven went ahead and opened the front door that led to the beach.

The two of them dashed out through the threshold as they headed to the place where the slight tremors originated from; Confident of Steven's newfound powers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so much time to update, I promise that I won't spend two days writing a chapter again.
> 
>  
> 
> Also, I still need a beta reader, so if you wish to help me with that, send me a message to alexis-bizarre-universe.tumblr.com or at alexiss-fic-archive.tumblr.com


	3. A Gem's Glow Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven figures out how to use his powers as The crystal gems fight the mother of the centipeetles.
> 
> (Warning for violence and blood)

The sun was setting over the horizon as Steven and Connie left the Beach House, small tremors crept along the ground as they ran through the beach.

A moment earlier, they had discovered that Steven could summon a shield from his gemstone, and even though how he did it was unclear, he decided to help the Crystal Gems on their newest quest: Protect Beach City from its newest menace.

As they ran around the corner of the cliff, the kids finally saw the creature that disturbed their evening.

A black and green arthropod of the size of a small train with a huge white mane on its head, which had a pair of jet black pincers that had a stick stuck close to their junction. Its long body writhed in pain as it released an earsplitting shriek that stopped the children on their tracks.

Next to the creature there were two smaller figures that remained unfazed by its loud call. They were Garnet and Pearl, who had already summoned their weapons and were regrouping to face the humongous enemy before them.

However, the absence of Amethyst along them worried Connie. 

"Where's Amethyst?" Connie asked Steven as they ran into a small hole in the cliff.

"I don't know." Steven said as they reached a safe hideout. "I couldn't see her near the others."

"I hope she's okay..." Connie said as she heard a crackling noise coming next to her.

She turned away from the opening of the small cave to see at the origin of the noise only to find Steven struggling to open the plastic bag of one of the Cookie Cats he brought with himself.

"Steven... What are you doing?" A Sceptical Connie asked him.

"I'm opening a Cookie Cat." The hybrid stated as the bag finally opened. "I'm gonna go and help the Gems!"

"Steven..." Connie said before Steven Spoke again.

"I know what you're thinking, Connie. The Cookie Cat may or not be the source of my power," He said. "And even if it isn't, I still want to do what I can to help them."

"But Steven.... That thing could kill you!" She said.

"If that thing defeats the Gems, it'll kill us anyways." He said. "I must try, Connie, even if I can just distract it for a moment."

"Steven..." Connie said one last time before he stepped out of the hideout.

Once he left her alone, Connie let out a sigh and told to herself: "Why are like this, Steven...." Before stepping outside of the small cave to follow him.

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Althought they were a rare creature to encounter, Corrupted nephrites (or Centipeetles, as the Crystal Gems began to call them based on their appearance) were always a force to be reckoned with in Pearl's opinion; Their giant body and hard exoskeleton, junctioned with their unnatural strength, their power to replicate themselves and their ability to release showers of acid as a desperation move, made them formidable foes that could turn a lenghty battle into a calvary.

Within any other circumstances a fusion such as Rainbow Quartz or Sardonyx could quickly deal with the corruption. However, since the holder of one of the halves of Rainbow's gems couldn't even summon his weapon and let alone fuse with another gem, and that all the knowledge about fusion was being withheld from Steven until he could formally join the Crystal Gems OR when his 14th birthday came to be, The Crystal Gems had to fight the Centipeetle the old way.

And If they were being honest, They were not having a nice time.

The creature not only took them by surprise, but was quick to dispose of Amethyst by launching her into the overcast clouds. It was continuously slamming Garnet into the cliff while Pearl tried to avoid getting pinned down by its legs or mauled by its pincers.

So they were pretty much against the ropes as their opponent toyed around with them.

"I don't remember having so much trouble with a Centipeetle before!" Pearl said before attempting to cut one of the creature's legs, resulting only in her spear getting small dents and chips on its blade. "Crud!"

"Pearl, your spears aren't as hard as Rose's Sword or Rainbow Axe!" Garnet grunted as she grabbed insect's jaws after it failed to catch her between them, keeping them away from her body. "Use them on its soft spots!"

"THIS THING DOESN'T HAVE A SOFT SPOT!" Pearl yelled as she tried to stab one of the legs' joints with the body, resulting in the spear's spiral shattering against the harder surface.

"I'M SEEING ONE RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!" Garnet shouted at her partner as the creature tried to bite her before slamming her into the cliff.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TOLD ME THAT EARLIER!?" Pearl exclaimed as she created another spear and rushed to help her friend.

"'CAUSE I'M BUSY TRYING TO NOT GET EATEN BY THIS THING!" Garnet said as she fought the creature's jaws in an attempt to not get trapped inside the insect's caustic maw.

Fortunately for her, Pearl showed next to her and quickly shoved down her weapon into the soft tissue of the creature's sclera, as far as possible from the gemstone that acted as its eye. The open wound released a small Spray of caustic blood in front of the lancer, who covered her eyes and gem in time to avoid getting blinded by it.

The insect released a horrifying screech as it freed Garnet from its grasp, squirming in pain as its blood dripped down from the pole of Pearl's spear.

The thin gem created another spear as the droplets of acid blood ate away her projected flesh before fading away from existence. She was thankful that she got hit by its blood and not by its spit, as the caustic properties were stronger in the monster's saliva than in other bodily fluids.

"You okay?" Garnet asked.

"You know I've been worse." Pearl replied smugly. 

"We'll be in a worser situation if we don't come up with a plan to defeat it." Garnet stated.

"We can't target its eye again, and its exoskeleton is too hard for my Spears...." Pearl said.

"What about its underside?" The fusion asked. "It's soft enough for them to hit."

"But it won't work...." The lancer said. "That thing is too long, its vitals can be anywhere in there."

"How about I damage its entire body from within?" Garnet suggested.

"Fried bug, huh?" Pearl said with a raised eyebrow. "We haven't done that since the eighties."

"We still need Amethyst here for it to work, though." The bigger gem stated as their enemy began to recover, curling around itself and trying to pull out the shaft of the weapon lodged in its eye with the pincer of its tail, squealing in pain as its acid blood dripped down from the metal pole as it was removed. After that, The Centipeetle's mane of white hair began to rustle, as smaller copies of the monster were released into the Beach next to it.

"So, We buy time, wait for Amethyst, connect it, shock it, and then, you finish it up?" Pearl summarized before looking at Garnet to check if they were in the same page. After receiving an approving nod from her partner, The lithe gem mirrored her before they both changed to a battle stance, Unbeknownst to them that there was someone else listening at them.

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While the Crystal Gems were discussing their strategy, Steven managed to sneak behind them and find cover behind one of the many broken pieces of the temple's statue that littered the beach's sand. 

He listened at their plan with hope that he could jump out at the last second, shield in hand to help them out. 

He took a bite of the ice cream he opened earlier abd waited for the shining light of his gemstone to materialize.

But nothing happened.

He took another bite and the pink gemstone remained as inert as always.

He took another, desperate bite from the melting treat as tears began to sprout from his eyes, his left hand clutched at the unresponsive, pink gemstone underneath his shirt.

"C'mon..." He pleaded to his Gem. "Please... let me do something..."

He slumped into the sand as the gemstone remained unresponsive. Apparently, Connie was right, and Ice cream had nothing to do with his powers at all.

"Darn it..." He said as the ground rumbled again as the battle between the gems and the monster and its minions ensued. "Why did I even though this would be an good plan..."

Tears began to flow freely from his eyes as Steven realized that he was a complete liability for the gems, What was the point of having a weapon if it didn't appeared when you needed it the most?

He felt small and useless, so much that he literally felt like he shrunk down to the size he had when he was eight.

He hugged his legs close to his chest, forsaking the now almost extinct ice cream sandwich to the beach's sand as he heard Pearl's voice as she was slammed against the wall of the cliff and Garnet's cries of concern for her teammate.

He sat there, hoping that the creatures or the gems couldn't listen to his whimpers and soft sniffles.

A moment later, He heard a loud boom accompanied by a burst of wind and sand that made him raise his head from his knees. He peeked from behind the hand he was hiding into the source of the sound, finding a small cloud of sand that quickly settled down, Inside of it was an injured Amethyst, who had crash-landed into the beach after having been thrown so high into the sky by the Centipeetle that she was airborne for at least five minutes.

"Amethyst?" Steven said as he checked her from his hideout, She had her right arm twisted in an unnatural way, as well as some bruises, scrapes and cuts result from the crash against the abrasive sand; Interestingly, The purple gemstone in her chest didn't had a single scratch or crack, probably because Amethyst cushioned the fall with her small body.

"AMETHYST!!" The other Gems shouted in concern as the creature lost interest in them, leaving them to its spawns as it moved towards the weakened gem.

"GET OUT OF THERE!" Pearl said as Amethyst struggled to stand on her feet, as her right leg was also displaced from its natural position.

The beast loomed above the helpless gem as it prepared to lunged at her.

Steven couldn't tear his teary eyes away from the scene that was about to happen.

The Insect prepared to lower its acid-coated jaws at her, However, it was interrupted by a stream of the corrosive poison that its descendants spew on its back.

It squealed in pain as it own acid ate away the protective armor, leaving that particular spot weakened and vulnerable.

It turned around to see the origin of this new attack while The gems and Steven did the same, And no one could've prepared them to the sight they were beholding.

Connie was standing in the middle of the beach, Tears running down her cheeks as she frowned angrily at the monster in front of her. In her arms there was a smaller Centipeetle that had acid still dripping from its jaws.

"CONNIE!?" The pair of gems said worryingly as they focused on killing the remaining offspring of the creature.

"Stay. Away. from. Her." She said to the creature who now had shown interest in her.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!!" The girl yelled before squishing the insect in her arms, forcing it to regurgitate the acid concoction towards its creator.

The stream made contact with some of the legs of the monster, making it shriek in pain as it cut them off away from the main body.

Enraged by the new attacker, The monster chose to retaliate with the same fire.

It quickly crawled against the girl with murderous intent, closing its maw to store the acid it was about to spew.

Noticing what was about to happen, Steven suddenly felt bigger, and left the hideout as fast as his feet allowed him, Rushing to protect the girl from the deathly insect before her.

Sensing the immediate danger, The creature in the girl's arms manage to escape from her grasp, while she covered herself with her arms to protect herself from the spray of lethal acid.

She closed her eyes as she awaited for the Centipeetle to unleash its attack on her.

However, Instead of feeling a burning pain all over her body, Connie felt nothing. She was completely fine.

She opened up her eyes to see the reason she was still alive and found that Steven was standing in front of her, along with a enlarged version of His pink shield; It had blocked the deadly acid from the monster

He stood in front of her before he suddenly collapsed into the sand, His shield dissipating as well.

"Steven!" The girl said as she walked over to him. Worried about his sudden fainting, She kneeled down next to him and was about to check his pulse, when an angry screech interrupted her. The beast was still there.

It was about to lunge at them when a purple whip encrusted with purple crystals wrapped itself around it's neck; Amethyst had recovered.

Her arm and leg were still made a mess and her face had a black eye and had some bleeding cuts around the left side of her visage, but still, she was determined enough to overcome her injury in order to protect her children.

"HEY, BUGFACE!" She shouted as she restrained the insect with only one arm. "WE'RE THE ONES YOU SHOULD BE WORRYING ABOUT!"

After finishing the sentence, her other two teammates showed up besides her. They also had some scratches and bite marks from the offspring they fought, but they were in better shape than Amethyst.

The white gem threw the spear she was holding towards the weakened portion of the armor that Connie made with her stunt, creating an opening to Garnet to finish the job.

The bigger gem in the trio gathered lightning in her fists before leaping into the spear that protuded from its body.

With a grunt, She pushed the spear deeper into the monster's insides along with her thunder with a mighty punch, electrocuting the corruption with thousand of volts, effectively damaging its vitals.

With a final screech, The green gemstone that functioned as an eye lost its glow, before the creature's entire body vanished in an explosion of smoke that cleared up the overcast sky.

Garnet got close to the beast's remains, It's gemstone, before she sealed it inside a stasis bubble and sent it to the temple.

Meanwhile, An awed Connie looked at her saviors as Steven began to move again.

"Connie?" He said. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Steven." She said with a smile. "Thanks to you."

The boy returned the smile before Garnet walked towards them.

"You two were of many help." The large gem said proudly. "Let's go inside."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this chapters needs an epuilogue and then we'll move onwards to Cheeseburger Backpack.


	4. A Gem's Glow: Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Fighting the Centipeetle mother, The Crystal Gems and The kids order some victory pizza

Night had fallen upon Beach city, And the inhabitants of the beach house were resting from the battle that ensued a couple hours ago.

After explaining the reason of why they got involved in the fight, The Gems chose to ignore that the kids almost got killed by their recklessness and forgaved them by not grounding them and by buying them some pizza as a reward for helping them.

And while Connie had come unscathed from the combat and Steven had only passed out for a moment, The trio of gems had been through a harsh beating, especially Amethyst.

Thankfully enough, Their projected bodies have the capacity to restore any damage done at them within minutes or hours depending on the severity of the wound and if their bodies had or not suffered lethal damage.

Therefore, while Pearl and Garnet's scratches and bruises disappeared after an hour and were setting up the table for that night's dinner, Amethyst's twisted limbs were put inside casts provided by Pearl, slowly reaaccommodating in their rightful place as she sat on the living room's sofa.

"Can't you just shapeshift your body back to normal?" A worried Connie asked her.

"No, She can't." Garnet answered in her partner's name while placing down some plates on the living room's coffee table.

"Why not?" Steven said as he sat down on the kitchen's island.

"Well Steven, our bodies are projections created by our gemstones, and our everyday appearance is something we call a default form." Pearl explained as she took out a couple of glasses from the cupboard. "The damage done to our default form, still lingers if we were to shapeshift into something. And the strain will cause our form to revert back to normal after a while."

"Think of this like that vampire movie we saw that day, Connie." Amethyst tried to simplify the lithe gem's explanation. "Y'know, The one where the dude gets hurt as a bat and then when he goes back to normal he has a broken arm?"

"Yeah I remember that movie!" Connie said. "Steven had to sleep on my bedroom for three days straight!"

"I-I just wanted to make sure you weren't having any nightmares!" A blushing Steven said nervously. "T-That's all!"

"Sure you did lil bud." The purple gem said in a mocking tone, making everyone giggle in the building, except for Steven, who was redder than the strawberries that Garnet and Connie brought home every saturday from their therapy walks.

He was about to say something to defend himself, when a someone knocked on the wooden screen door that led to the beach outside.

"Ohlookthepizza'shere!" Steven said very quickly before rushing towards the door to open, being greeted by a dark skinned teenager wearing running gear and a "Fish Stew Pizza" apron over it. Her curly hair was tied up into a bun and sported a genuine smile on her lips in the process.

"Hey, Steven." The girl greeted him.

"Hi Kiki!" He reciprocated the salute as the blush faded from his visage. "What brings you to our humble abode?"

"I'm here to deliver the pizza you ordered, Steven." The delicery girl said, trying to keep up with his playfulness. 

"Oh, Right." He said before looking for the pizza money inside his pockets and handing it over to his friend. "Thank you, Kiki!"

"You're welcome, Steven." She said with a smile as she handed over the couple of pizza boxes to him. "By the way, are you celebrating something?"

"Something like that...." He said sheepishly.

"Ma' Girl Connie saved by butt today, Kiki!" Amethyst shouted from her resting place in the sofa. "And my dude Steven summoned his weapon!"

"That sounds great! A bit dangerous for my taste, but great!" The delivery girl admitted before her phone made a notification alert. "I gotta go. Need to deliver today's last batch or else dad's gonna discount them from my paycheck."

She went to the small table outside the house and grabbed the stack of pizzas she left there before walking down the stairs and making her way back towards the town.

"Have a nice evening!" The boy said to her before closing up the door.

"You know, Now that Amethyst mentioned it," An intrigued Pearl said as she took the pizza boxes from the kid's hands. "you haven't told us how did you summoned that shield, Steven." 

"Yeah dude, spill it out!" Amethyst said excitedly. "Did any of our tips worked?"

"Not at all!" Steven said as he sat down next to Connie on the sofa. "If I'm being honest, your tips only confused me more."

"Then how did you called it forth?" Pearl asked as she placed down the boxes in the middle of the coffee table.

"I'm not sure." He answered. "Earlier, when The Centipeetle was about to attack Connie, I didn't noticed when I rushed at her." The boy grasped at the gemstone in his stomach, only that this time, it was affectively. "Then, my shield just materialized in front of me on its own!"

"Baby steps, Dude, Baby steps." Amethyst said as she watched her bigger partner open the lid of the boxes and serving the slices of Indian pizza in their plates.

During Connie's second year in Beach City, Steven and Amethyst had somehow managed to convince Kofi, the owner of Fish stew pizza, to make pizzas with indian Ingredients After the girl mentioned that she missed her mother's cooking. So, after three days of incessant phonecalls (And threaten him to wreck his local beyond recognition) they managed to make the businessman use the exotic ingredients as well to give them a huge discount on them.

"I still don't know why I passed out, though." Steven said as he took both his and Amethyst plates.

"You probably need some more practice." Garnet said before taking a slice for herself. "Creating and manipulating light constructs is something that requires energy."

"I'm surprised that you didn't fainted after summoning your shield in the house!" Pearl said as she watched everyone partaking in the human ritual of familiar dinner. "Which reminds me, do any of you have an idea of what happened to the TV?"

The two children shared a mischievous look at each other. "We have no idea of what are you talking about." They said at the same time.

The gem released a frustrated sigh. "Remember to leave it enough slices for Greg." She said. "I guess that I'm also going to need to do some maintainance to his van."

"You know, We could just steal a TV from a deposit inland." Amethyst said with a grin as she ate her pizza with the help of her shapeshifting to make another left arm.

"You know that we can't keep doing that, Amethyst!" The white gem said. "The judge was pretty clear about that!"

The conversation carried on for a while, the kids were laughing at Amethyst's story of how they were almost incarcerated by theft when they went to retrieve a gem object away from a jewelry collector in Russia, who had mistaken a possesor crystal for a simple gem and had placed it in a necklace. In the end the gems became wanted criminals in a region of Russia for a while.

Pearl was blushing intensely at the story, as Amethyst was emphasizing how they got caught by Pearl's fault. While Garnet just ate her pizza slice as the ghost of a smile creeping up her cheeks.


	5. The Moon Goddess' Trial: Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After thwarting a giant eye's efforts to destroy the temple (And Beach City), The Crystal Gems decide to make a Test for Steven.

The off-season time at Beach City is what most people would consider calm and quiet. Even the kaiju-like attacks from monstrous creatures that are seldom experienced by the small population of the coast town are even less frequent during this peaceful time.

Strangely enough, it is also during Off-season when the monster attacks cause the most destruction to the town.

Most recently, the Red eye (or “The blazing eye of chaos, doom and destruction” as some local conspiracy blog named it) had caused several material losses to the inhabitants of the small town after the Crystal Gems used an ancient magical weapon to destroy it, inadvertently causing a rain of flaming debris over the town.

And while the townsfolk were busy calling their insurances to repair the damage in hope of returning to normalcy before summer, The Crystal Gems were proud of how Steven, alongside both Connie and Greg, was able to save the entire town from something that could've been worse than some broken windows.

The boy had shown great bravery and potential to become a member of the Crystal Gems. Therefore, the trio of gems had decided to bring him on the next mission they had as a test, so they could see the extent of his abilities in a controlled scenario.

However, There was a little detail that Amethyst had brought, that they weren't agreeing with….

“Why can't we bring Connie!?” Amethyst argued with her teammates inside the burning room.

“Cause she's a human, Amethyst!” Pearl argued back. “Even a simple mission could get her killed!”

“She has saved our butts twice this month along with him!” Amethyst retorted. “She is strong enough to come with us to some, ‘foolproof’ mission!”

“Two incidents that almost get her killed!” Pearl yelled. “She’s just a little girl, Amethyst! She's going to be more safe in home than in any crumbling temple!”

“So is Steven!” The small quartz said as Garnet decided to intercede.

“You two! Calm down!” She said with an authoritative voice, instantly stopping their escalating argument. “This is not a matter of whether or not Steven is ready for this. Remember that we will judge that during the mission.”

The pair of scolded gems slumped down on their stone seats. 

“However,” The enigmatic gem said as she fixed her shades. “I do believe that bringing Connie with us could benefit us on the long term.”

“WHAT!?” A perplexed Pearl said. “WHY!?” 

“The details aren't still very clear.” Garnet said. “There’s still too much fog in the futures where she's in, but her fate becomes clearer in the paths where she decides to come along with us to the mission.”

“Wait… Does that means that we can bring her with us?!” A now excited Amethyst bounced with joy.

“Only if she agrees.” Garnet said with a small smile on her face

“WOO-HOOO!!!” The youngest gem exclaimed.

“Remember,” Garnet continued, interrupting Amethyst's fit of joy. “You must keep her safe at all times. If anything happens to her, It's gonna be your responsibility.”

“I know Garnet.” The purple gem said smiling, she was too happy to get mad at her leader's scolding.

“And Pearl...” The fusion now directed herself to the lithe gem. “You should know better than anyone that you shouldn't judge a gem by its cut”

The aggression on her face vanished and was replaced by a faint blush.

“Sorry, Garnet…” She apologized.

“It’s okay.” The larger gem said before heading towards the door. “Now, if you excuse me, Greg invited me to play tennis alongside Steven and Connie.”

“Huh? Why?” A confused Pearl asked. 

“He thought it would be fun.” Garnet answered before opening the portal to the temple. “I’m counting on you to get the place ready for the test.”

And so, Garnet left to the carwash, where Greg and the kids were waiting for her. Leaving her two teammates alone in the burning room.

“So… Any idea of what are going to do?” The purple quartz asked her friend.

“Well, I do have a place in mind to perform the test.” She answered as an holographic display of the globe surged from her gem. “Its somewhat near to Russia and we're going to need a certain item from this other temple at the Yucatec archipelago in Aqua-Mexico…”

“I meant, how are we going to convince them to come without them suspecting that it's a test? You nerd…” Amethyst teased her as the other gem pinpointed the locations.

“We can think about it once we get the idol from the temple.” Pearl answered once more before dispelling the hologram.

“Ugh…” The quartz groaned. “Well, at least I can get myself some good ol’ Yucatec food while we're there. Do you think that Connie or Steven would like some authentic Aqua-mexican food?”

“Just don't get them poisoned and you won't get in troubles.” Pearl said as they left the room.

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Over the course of the next week, both Pearl and Amethyst ventured into the Yucatec temple to retrieve the moon goddess statuette, the vital item that would be of utmost importance to Steven's examination, while Garnet snuck in the local tennis court at night to practice on her game.

It turned out, that while Garnet was a magical war veteran capable of sending a tennis ball into the stratosphere and had the potential to see through a myriad of different futures, Greg had somehow managed to defeat her by a 6/0 margin while Connie taught Steven the basics of tennis on another court.

And while Garnet didn't held any grudge against the man, the ruby part of her being compelled her to seek for the rematch against the ex-musician.

So, she broke inside someone's house, “borrowed” their tennis gear, and then went to practice tennis in the middle of the night.

She was determined to get that rematch and win it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating as much, blame Persona 4 for that.


	6. The moon goddess trial. Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie and Steven receive a package, while the gems return from an important mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta read by [ Weirkid20 ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wierdkid20/pseuds/Wierdkid20)
> 
> Go read her White Diamond's kid's fic!

The mornings at the Beach House aren't much different from any other household.

Every morning, when the Gems are out, Steven or Connie (usually the former) wakes up before the other to make some breakfast that the two of them could share before splitting up the chores of the house. Then they read a book, watch TV, play a video game or do some activity like that before heading out to town so they could do stuff outside until the evening.

This morning however wasn’t usual at all.

Connie woke up in the safety of her bedroom, a spacey and well lit hidden room beneath Steven's loft, to the familiar smell of waffled egg sandwiches invading her nostrils.

As she opened her eyes, Connie perceived the blurry figure of the invention that she and Steven had created when they got stuck in a snowstorm in Mr. Universe's van a year ago. Next to it was something that seemed to be a glass of orange juice.

The girl fumbled for her red-framed glasses and placed them over the bridge of her nose, clearing the permanent fog that blurred her vision as she saw the lukewarm sandwich sitting on a small plate next to the glass and a note that read: Good Morning!!♥

With a fond smile adorning her face, Connie made a mental note to thank Steven before getting out of bed to eat the lukewarm breakfast and get cleaned up.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

After making up her bed and getting dressed, Connie opened up the sliding door that led to the house's living room. She found that Steven had already finished with the chores and was nowhere to be found.

“Steven?” The girl asked at the empty house “Are you there?”

When she didn't find an answer, Connie suddenly remembered that the package she helped him order a month ago was finally arriving to the house that day. She assumed that Steven must be waiting for the mailman next to the temple's mailbox.

After washing up her dishes, Connie walked out on to the house's deck to look for Steven. Sure enough, she could hear his voice from the direction of the temple's mailbox. She could see him sitting next to it, intently watched the side of the beach from where the postman would appear with his package.

The girl walked down the stairs, Listening to Steven's innocent melody mixed with the soothing crash of the waves on the shore and the occasional caw of the seagulls that flew above the peninsula's sky as she approached him.

Once she was close to him, Steven turned around upon listening to her footsteps on the sand.

“Connie!” He called her name excitedly. “You up already?”

“You helped a bit with that breakfast you made.” She said with a smile that mirrored Steven's.

A brief silence fell between them as Connie sat down next to Steven before speaking up again.

“Soo… What are you doing here?”

“Remember the package we ordered online a week ago?” He explained with stars shining in his eyes. “Well, it's supposed to arrive today!”

“And you decided to wait for the mailman by the mailbox?” She asked with a small grin, already knowing the answer to the question.

“Yup. I saw it in a cartoon once!” He said cheerfully.

The whole scenario was so cute that Connie could barely keep her squeals under control. It turned out that Steven had never received any piece of mail in his life, not even a mis-received magazine subscription or junk mail. This was the first time he experienced the way the postal service worked, so it was natural for him to be as excited as he was.

“Oh! There he is!” Steven said as a member of the postal service appeared on his field of vision.

The worker was a young, tall man who was wearing the standard uniform of the Delmarva post office, a light blue shirt, a pair of khaki shorts and a hat. He carried a bag filled to the brim with letters and packages wrapped in brown paper. An ID tag with his photo and the name “Jamie B.” was hanging from the man's neck. 

The man approached the mailbox and the two children next to it absentmindedly. He was distracted by the sheer beauty of the ruined statue that was the temple's facade. His gaping mouth gave away that he had never approached to the temple in his life.

“Good Morning!” The waiting boy said, startling the distraught mailman who nearly jumped and spilled the contents of his bag.

“G-G-Good Morning!” He said flustered as he regained his balance.

“First time around here?” Connie asked.

“Y-Yeah….” The office worker said nervously. “I heard rumors about this giant stone lady at the end of the peninsula, but I never thought it was actually real…”

“Yeah, the sight is breathtaking the first time.” The girl reassured Jamie.

He stared at the carved out cliff until realization hit him.

“Oh right!” He said before taking a squared package from his bag. “I have some delivery for, uh…” He placed the package under his left armpit and took a small electronic terminal from his belt. “Universe, comma, Steven?”

“I am Universe, comma, Steven!” The young boy said as he sprung up from his seat. 

“Great!” Jamie said as he offered Steven his terminal. “Can you please sign up here?”

“Sure!” The boy said before writing his name on the touchscreen of the device with a small star at the end before giving it back.

“Thanks!” The man said as he took the device and handed over the package with the boy's name. “Here you go!”

“So… Jamie,” Connie said, trying to create a conversation. “How come you've never seen the temple?

“Oh, I guess that I was too busy on auditions to actually visit it.” He answered.

“Oh my gosh!” A starry eyed Steven said. “You’re an actor?!”

“Kinda…” Jamie said sheepishly. “When I was in highschool, I starred as Hamlet in a play and the director told me that I was the most talented kid he had met. The fact that he was the PE teacher had nothing to do with that of course.”

The pair of children let out a small chuckle before he continued.

“The words she told me inspired me to follow my current dream of star the most prestigious plays of Empire city's Broadroad.” He kept telling them his story before Connie interrupted him.

“Why are you working as a mailman, then?” She asked.

“I, uh…” Jamie broke a sweat as his cheeks flared up. “You’ll see, you can't pay rent if you don't have money, and being an actor without a role doesn't actually pay at all. So… I took the mailman's job so I could afford food.”

He let out a nervous chuckle.

“Anyways, I must go back to work.” He said. “That anti-theft alarm isn't going to buy itself…”

“An alarm?” The two children said with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah... I believe that some prankster has been breaking into my house at night just to move the tennis gear my mom gave me on my birthday…” He explained them. “Anyways. Have a nice day on my behalf.”

“Sure!” Steven said smiling before the young mailman decided to return to his duty.

Once Jamie had disappeared from their sight, a beaming Steven said something to Connie:

“Do you wanna make an unboxing video of this baby?”

“You know I do.” Connie said mischievously.

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The warp pad inside the house lit up as Pearl and Amethyst materialized in the middle of the light beam, each one carrying something with them: Pearl cradled a small statuette between her spindly arms while the small quartz balanced a small pile of recipients filled with Aqua-Mexican delicacies in one hand and a giant bird egg on the other.

“I can't believe that you insisted on bringing that thing with us.” An annoyed Pearl said as she stepped off the pad. 

“Hey, you were the one who said that we needed to restock the fridge before the next mission.” Amethyst said smugly as she carefully walked into the kitchen, making the slim gem scowl.

“You know that I didn't meant it in that way!” Pearl said. “In any case, how are you even going to fit those inside the fridge?”

“Just leave it to me!” The smaller gem said after carefully placing the stack of takeout on the counter while balancing the egg precariously on her hand.

“I’m not cleaning that up.” A frustrated Pearl said as Garnet's temple door opened behind her,the leader of the Crystal Gems emerging from her room, A couple of tennis balls were stuck in her cubic afro. 

“Howdy.” The leader addressed her fellow teammates.

“Hey G-squad!” The purple gem said before positioning it between her arms. “You have something in your hair.”

The bigger gem acknowledged her teammate's advice and was quick to pluck the green spheres from her hair.

“Hello, Garnet.” Pearl greeted her friend while Amethyst moved in front of the fridge to open it. “Did you’re special mission went well?”

“I’d like to think it did.” The fusion said, managing to add a smug tone to her usual deadpan. “Which reminds me. Are we ready for the next mission?”

“Everything’s already set, Garnet.” Pearl said. “The only thing that we're missing are the kids.”

And as if on cue, the voices belonging to the younger denizens of the temple could be heard as indistinguishable chatter from outside the wooden walls as they approached their home, drawing a small smirk on Garnet's lips.

“Yup, All set.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> If you want, leave some kudos or comments if you liked the story!


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